Statement in Support of Claim - change in medical costs

If my mother does move from home into an assisted living facility, am I correct that I would file a Statement in Support of Claim (21-4138) to try to get the amount of the award increased due to the increase in her medical costs?

Also, since she recently received the decision that she is entitled to Aid & Attendance, would it likely take less time for the VA to reach a decision as to whether she is entitled to an increase in the monthly amount?

If my mother does move from home into an assisted living facility, am I correct that I would file a Statement in Support of Claim (21-4138) to try to get the amount of the award increased due to the increase in her medical costs?

Also, since she recently received the decision that she is entitled to Aid & Attendance, would it likely take less time for the VA to reach a decision as to whether she is entitled to an increase in the monthly amount?

Thank you!

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Yes to both. Main things to provide VA:

address and monthly rates of facility, your phone, her phone, facility's phone number, date she entered, level of care. Make sure mom sign's everything. This is a quick adjustment. turn in an 0845 as well. Depending on the time of year, you could have this done in a week or two.

Thank you! My mom just moved yesterday, so I'm getting the form ready.

Do you recommend sending the lease from the assisted living facility along with the form, as well as the facility's list of what her level of care covers? The lease is about 10 pages long, but it states the monthly fee, and is signed by mother.

Yes, send as much info as you can about her finances now as well. Moving from her home to an assisted living facility means that her house is now considered net worth for VA purposes. Depending on its value, this could have an impact on her benefit. The best way to work with this is to sell the home on an installment sale. The income that she receives from the sale would not be considered income for VA purposes because it is a conversion of assets and the net worth would not disqualify her because she would no longer own the home.

I said "Is the home considered a countable asset while it is listed for sale? It could take months for a SALE to go thru." ie: for a buyer to even show up.
you said Again, INSTALMENT SALES are the best way to sell a home and still qualify the program

I assume you mean have mom carry the note?

But that still doesnt answer the question. It could take months for an INSTALMENT SALE to happen. I don't see buyers lining up to buy homes, especially a home that a senior has been in for the last few yrs in care.
Are you suggesting for mom to sell below market to facilitate a quick sell? And then carry the note? How is the downpayment handled? Will a ballon note be concidered 'legal'?

The way it works is as long as the house is in her name, it is considered an asset. If she sells it on the agreement that the buyer will pay her a monthly amount, we would consider all of the payments she receives as a conversion of assets up to the sale amount of the home. For example:

House is worth $100,000.00
Installment payments of $1,000.00 per month for 120 months with a balloon payment of $10,000.00 after the 120th payment.
The first 100 payments would not be considered income because they would be equal to the value of the home. The remaining 20 payments and balloon would be considered income.

The obvious advantage is to avoid dealing with net worth, still have a steady stream of income from the home, and push the income counting issue down the road 9 years or so. At that point, not to sound incredibly harsh, the claimant will probably either need much more in the way of care, so the income might not even be an issue or will have passed away.

As far as selling below market, I don't want to speculate. At this point with the housing market, everyone is getting screwed. At least this way it makes them eligible for the benefit from VA.

If she has a promissory note stating that the buyer will continue making the payments, the note is not considered net worth because it is not reasonably available to her for conversion. It is pretty convoluted, but hopefully that sheds some light.

Max,
I understand now what you are saying.
But I can't imagine a real buyer not wanting their name on the deed?
What your refering to is really a lease to buy agreement where the original owner holds title. In this type of agreement, the owner has all the liablity for the property if the home stays in her name. The new installment payor has no skin in the game. We saw what happens in the current housing market when purchasers have no downpayment.

Sorry, that is not what I meant. I meant that the buyer would hold the lease, but the seller would not receive all of the money up front. The money would be received in payments. Much like how when many people buy cars from dealers they get the title to the car, but are still required to make payments for several years. Maybe I'm not up to date on the exact verbage of what it is called, but I've seen this type of situations several times and it works out very well.

you said "The way it works is as long as the house is in her name, it is considered an asset. If she sells it on the agreement that the buyer will pay her a monthly amount, we would consider all of the payments she receives as a conversion of assets up to the sale amount of the home"

THe deciding factor to the VA is who owns the asset. (i think you are saying?) If seller holds title to the asset and recieves payments, then the asset is uncountable (unavailable) because it is producing income.

Thanks for your response. I sent the form and documentation in 3 weeks ago by certified mail. It took a week to get there, so they've had it for two weeks now. (I could have driven it there in 6 hours!) No word so far. I sent 0845 in some time ago.

As for her home, she didn't own it or much of anything else for that matter. Her only asset is a CD valued at less $1,500. It will have to be cashed in next month if the VA doesn't come through soon.

Received some additional communication from the VA over the weekend, responding to an update in her condition which I sent over 2 months ago, which concerns me, but I'll post that under another subject when I have time.

Thanks for your help!

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Posted by: Max

Yes to both. Main things to provide VA:

address and monthly rates of facility, your phone, her phone, facility's phone number, date she entered, level of care. Make sure mom sign's everything. This is a quick adjustment. turn in an 0845 as well. Depending on the time of year, you could have this done in a week or two.

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Posted by: Max

Yes, send as much info as you can about her finances now as well. Moving from her home to an assisted living facility means that her house is now considered net worth for VA purposes. Depending on its value, this could have an impact on her benefit. The best way to work with this is to sell the home on an installment sale. The income that she receives from the sale would not be considered income for VA purposes because it is a conversion of assets and the net worth would not disqualify her because she would no longer own the home.